The Chess King
by Kikyo's killer
Summary: Luffy and Usopp play a game of chess.


**Disclaimer: **I don't own One Piece and I am terrible at chess.

**Author's Note: **A cute one-shot I wrote for my creative writing class last year. I've been meaning to post it, but I just haven't gotten around to it. It's pairing less, but you're free to see what you want. This is just after Arlong Park, so the crew only has Nami, Usopp, Zoro, Luffy, and Sanji. Also, if I get something wrong, don't bother correcting me. I understand little of chess and even if it seems like a simple mistake it might make fixing it hard to keep the flow of the story. Thank you.

**The Chess King**

"Hey, Sanji, Usopp, what are you playing?"

"Chess," they said together.

"Can I watch?"

Neither of them said anything as Luffy sat down next to Sanji, watching the board with wide, unblinking eyes. Occasionally he would interrupt the game by asking a question or confirming a theory, but overall he was mostly quiet. After about ten minutes or so of this, Luffy opened his mouth to ask another question when Usopp let out a loud "Whoop!" and said, "Checkmate!"

"What?" Sanji said. He looked at the board, his cigarette almost dropping from his mouth. "When did this happen? You cheated!"

The sharpshooter grinned and crossed his arms, "Face it, Sanji, chess just isn't your game. You should stick with the kitchen."

After a few more moments of scanning the board, Sanji stood up, let a cigarette, and left the room mumbling some crude words as he left. Usopp gave another victorious "Whoop!"

"No one can beat the Great Chess King, Usopp-sama!"

Luffy laughed, "I want to play! I want to play!"

"Are you sure about that Luffy? I'm one of the world's greatest, so I'm a little out of your league. In fact, back in my home village they called me 'Captain Usopp-sama, Chess King!' It's because a few years ago I saved the town from an army of bloodthirsty zombies who—"

"Does the King go on the left or the right?"

"The left, why?" He blinked, "You already set the board up?"

"Of course," he replied, "let's begin."

"I have to warn you, Luffy," Usopp smirked, "white is my best color."

Luffy didn't look at him, "You go first, right?"

"Yup," Usopp moved a pawn.

"You know," Luffy followed his actions, "our nakama is a lot like these pieces."

"How so?"

"Well, the pawns are the weakest piece, right? Yet they're still able to take out other pieces, a lot like Nami." He took a pawn. "See? Nami is great at attacking other pawns, but can still hold her own against the tough guys."

The long-nose teen nodded, not sure how Luffy snuck on him so easily. "What about Sanji? Who is he?"

He held a bishop, "Bishops are fast and can easily take out pawns," he placed the piece were a pawn once was. "Check."

Usopp moved his king.

"He can also take out the bigger foes," he grabbed a brook and put "Sanji" in its place, "Check."

Usopp grinned, placing his queen in front of the bishop. It might leave his knight open, but it was a worthy cause.

Luffy moved his bishop back.

"Why did you do that? You could have had my knight!"

"But then you would take Sanji! It wasn't worth it!"

"'You know you can't win without making sacrifices."

"Yes I can."

Usopp shook his head, "So who's the queen?"

"Zoro."

He burst into laughter. "Zoro? Really? Why?"

"He's my first mate and my strongest crew member. I can always count on him to get us out of a pinch. Check."

Usopp shook his head, "Then who's the brook?"

"Merry."

"Our ship?"

Luffy nodded.

"How?"

"She's always there to clear the way so we can escape. She's our castle."

"Then what am I? Check."

"A knight."

Usopp looked up, "A knight?"

The captain nodded. "Yup! Knights are smart and crafty. They are the hardest to be because you have to think outside the box, like you, Usopp."

Tears welled up in the sharpshooter's eyes. A knight? Him? Really?

"Checkmate."

"Huh?"

Usopp looked down to see that his king was surrounded. No matter how he moved he was either stopped by a paw, a bishop, a brook, the queen, or a knight.

"I win."

He stood up to leave, but Usopp stopped hm.

"Wait! What are you?"

Luffy grinned, "The Chess King."

**The End**


End file.
